Chapter 1514 - 1503: Outclassing Richard Shaw in Emotional Intelligence

"The Howards are coming over. Since when did you get so close with them?" Chloe Winston was slightly surprised. Constantine Stewart was actually someone who enjoyed solitude and wasn’t very fond of mingling with people. During the years they were married, besides his business partners, he didn’t have many friends, not even frequent interactions with Richard Shaw.

Both of them stayed home, living mostly in their own world. As for attending various parties, he rarely took her along, saying there was no need for both of them to go, it would give too much face. Chloe thought that part of it was his laziness to socialize, and part of it was his belief that their relationship wouldn’t last long.

"Today is the first day of the New Year. They’re bored and inviting us to play cards. I was too lazy to go, so they insisted on coming over." As for getting close to Alaric Howard and Balthazar Howard, it was only in the past six months. With Chloe away, he had been rather lonely and visited with them a few times.

The Howard family is strict, Alaric and Balthazar always needed an excuse to go out. They used to use Richard Shaw as a cover, now they use Constantine. Added to that, Constantine was generous with money and had a cold personality, not really engaging with them, so the two just clung to him persistently.

"They’ll probably arrive in about an hour. I’ll ask the butler to prepare a few more dishes for dinner. They might even bring some ingredients with them." Constantine said flatly.

A little over an hour later, Alaric and Balthazar indeed arrived, carrying a box full of smoked and wild meats from their car, along with a box of New Year’s gifts.

"Old Constantine, come and catch this! It’s homemade cured meat from our grandma, unique to your family in the whole of Emperor City, you know?" Balthazar said with a smile.

The butler, hearing the voices, quickly and happily went out to greet them, while Constantine lazily raised an eyebrow and said, "Seeing your excitement, I thought you made them yourself. Please thank Grandma Howard for me, and I’ll definitely visit her soon."

"Where’s your wife? How come it’s just you during the New Year?" Alaric moved a box of gifts inside, asking.

Constantine rolled up his sleeves, picked up a small garden shovel, and said while walking, "She’s playing on the second floor. Let me finish shoveling the snow, and then I’ll call her down."

"Come on, Old Constantine, shoveling snow during the New Year? Come over, call Chloe, and let’s play mahjong. I even brought the tiles," Balthazar said, handing the cured meat and wild game to the butler and going to fetch the mahjong set.

"Not playing, I have to shovel the snow. If it snows all night, the path will be blocked tomorrow. I’m afraid our dear Chloe might fall," Constantine said as he shoveled the snow piled outside the small garden.

"That’s too cheesy, I’m getting goosebumps all over," Alaric shivered, then took one of the two spare shovels in the garden to help.

"I’ll help too. After we finish shoveling, we can play mahjong. You and your wife can play together," Balthazar eagerly joined in to shovel the snow.

"During the New Year, why aren’t you guys at home with your wives and kids, why come to my place?" Constantine noticed the two were a bit flashy but still liked to gossip, sticking to his place for no apparent reason.

"We don’t have to visit relatives today, everyone is around our grandma. The Howard family’s grandma is a feminist, and women hold high status in the Howard family. All the daughters-in-law, granddaughters-in-law, and kids crowd around her, so we men have gotten used to finding our own entertainment."

The three men worked quickly, soon clearing all the snow to one side and building two huge mounds of snow.

When Chloe came downstairs, Constantine was just taking the two labor-exhausted Howard siblings to wash their hands, asking the butler to brew fresh tea.

"Mr. Alaric, Mr. Balthazar, Happy New Year," Chloe greeted the two aristocrats.

"Happy New Year, sister-in-law. We’re here to play mahjong with Old Constantine. We don’t get many chances all year," laughed Alaric and Balthazar.

"The last time was when Old Leclair went back to the United Kingdom, and we saw him off," Constantine said casually.

Alaric and Balthazar: "..."

Chloe tugged at Constantine’s arm, then smiled, "I’m not very good at playing, but I can join you for a bit."

"Sister-in-law is the best, Old Constantine, hurry up and set the table," Alaric said disdainfully.

The four of them sat at the mahjong table. To prevent cheating, Chloe sat across from Constantine, and Alaric and Balthazar across from each other. Chloe wasn’t very good at playing at first and kept losing, but Constantine took it leisurely, as if he was just there to enjoy. No matter how much they lost, he’d cover it.

After two rounds, Chloe got the hang of the rules, and her luck was exploding. Coupled with Constantine helping by playing the tiles she needed, she soon won back the money she lost and then some.

In the end, it was just Constantine who lost, while the other three won more or less, everyone was happy.

"Old Constantine, you’re something," Alaric slapped him on the shoulder, grinning slyly. Losing money is minor, winning a beauty’s heart is the real deal. Old Constantine’s emotional intelligence beats Richard Shaw’s hands down.

"Not a great day for luck, good thing Chloe is doing well, or we’d have lost badly," Constantine smiled elegantly and looked at the time before asking the butler to prepare dinner.

That evening, having had a good time, they opened a bottle of red wine and enjoyed a small drink.

After dinner, sending the Howard brothers off, Constantine took Chloe’s hand as they walked home together.

"It’s cold outside. You don’t need to walk out with us," he said, seeing her tucking her face into her furry hat, and couldn’t help pinching her hat.

"It’s alright, the Howard brothers seem very approachable," Chloe said, putting her hand into her pocket, Constantine’s big hand joining hers inside the pocket too.

"It’s all appearances. These aristocrats might seem carefree, but they know precisely who they can and cannot mingle with; everyone keeps a mental note," Constantine said with a faint smile.

He now planned to settle in Imperial City and had no intention of returning to France. Seeing him get closer to the Shaw family, and being relatives, the Howards inevitably mingled more. Constantine wielded substantial influence, even though he had a falling out with his family. Still, his birth mother was the countess, with a solid foundation abroad, so the Howards naturally wanted to be closer.

After hearing this, Chloe fell silent. Seeing her furrowed little brow, Constantine smiled and said, "It’s not just that the Howards are shrewd. Mainly for those in the political sphere, be it the Howards, the Shaws, or even the Leclair family in Nanyang, they don’t easily mingle with others, sometimes being in a high position leaves one with no choice."

Constantine didn’t spell it out clearly, but Chloe vaguely understood. These elites, contrary to one’s imagination, don’t get the freedom to command the wind and rain at will. Instead, they face more constraints than ordinary families.

Only someone like Constantine, who had split from his family, lived as he pleased.